McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader, Revised Edition · Lesson XLI · Part 5: Home, market and school

41. Frank and James White and their horses

Goal: Your child reads the horse story, talks about kindness to animals, and copies script sentences.

⏱ About 20 minutes · 7 steps

Open it at the Internet Archive ↗

You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • A slate, small whiteboard or lined paper and a pencil

What's in the book

Twelve new words, a picture, a story about two boys riding and driving their horses, and Slate Work in script to copy.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Warm up

    Have your child reread a few lines of Lesson XL, for example:

    Come here, Lucy, and listen! What is in this flower?

    Praise smooth reading and help with any word that sticks.

  2. New words

    Point to the new words at the top of the page:

    best hitched their should or riding live holds hay driving tight early

    Say each word and have your child say it after you. Sound out the short ones together, then point to words in any order and let your child read them.

    For longer words, clap the parts together, then say the whole word.

  3. Read the lesson aloud

    Look at the picture together first, and ask what your child sees. Then your child reads the lesson aloud, one sentence at a time. Help with any word by pointing to it in the word list.

    Here are two lines from it:

    Here come Frank and James White.

    Do you know where they live?

    Read it a second time, more smoothly.

  4. Talk about it

    SayWho is coming?

    SayHow should the boys treat their horses?

    SayWhat will they give the horses when they are done riding?

    Let your child look back at the page to find answers.

  5. Copywork

    Read the Slate Work at the end of the lesson together first. The book gives this Slate Work in script. Your child copies it on the slate or paper, slowly and neatly:

    Some horses can trot very fast.

    Would you like to ride fast?

  6. Spelling

    Say each word, use it in a short sentence, and have your child spell it aloud, then write it on the slate: hay, best, ride, fast, live.

    Check together and fix any mistakes right away.

  7. Tell it back

    Close the book.

    SayTell me the story in your own words.

    Help with "What happened first? Then what?" if your child gets stuck.

Afterwards

Reread this lesson aloud on the next day before starting a new one. Read the new words from the list in any order until they come quickly.

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